Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/297

 afolk*Xore.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

Vol. XX.] SEPTEMBER, 1909. [No. III.

THE RELIGION OF THE ANDAMAN ISLANDERS.^

BY A. R. BROWX, TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

{Read at Meeting, March 17 tk, 1909.)

The only account of the religion of the Andaman Islanders so far published is that of Mr. E. H. Man, in his book on the Andamanese, originally published in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute for the year 1882. Mr. Man's researches were in many ways excellent. I have tested as far as possible every statement in his book, and can speak with ungrudging praise of it. But there are certain matters on which I am compelled to dissent from Mr. Man's opinions, and one of the most important of these is his interpretation of certain religious beliefs of the Andamanese.

^ The researches on which this paper is based were conducted under the terms of the Anthony Wilkin Studentship in Ethnology of Cambridge University. VOL. XX. R